From 2008 to 2012 ACCCE contracted two major PR firms, White and Partners and Hawthorn Group. In 2013, possibly due to plummeting revenue, ACCCE dropped almost all of their PR contractors, except for DCI Group. Before their financial crisis, contractors were routinely paid millions of dollars, but since 2013, almost all contractors besides DCI and DDC were paid under $500k per year. Despite ACCCE’s failing finances, DCI Group has been paid $8.8 million for PR services since 2012.

White and Partners Contracts

Between 2009 and 2012, ACCCE contracted White and Partners (now calledWhite64) for a total of $66.3 million. In 2011, the contract with White and Partners exceeded half of ACCCE’stotal revenue for that year. It appears White and Partners was also a contractor for ABEC (before it was renamed ACCCE), producingat least one commercial.

This debacle resulted inmajor Congressional hearings and landed ACCCE and Hawthorn a spot in a Public Relations textbook which called it “A Dirty Campaign for Clean Coal”. ACCCE’s President, Stephen Miller, went on topublicly disparage Bonner & Associates saying, “We are outraged at the conduct of Bonner & Associates. Based upon the information we have, it is clear that an employee of Bonner’s firm failed to demonstrate the integrity we demand of all our contractors and subcontractors.” Despite this, ACCCE continued major contracts with the Hawthorn Group through 2012.

Starting in 2015 and continuing into 2016, ACCCE contracted the controversial PR company DDC Advocacy, paying them a total of $1.5 million. DDC has hosted various advocacy websites for ACCCE, includingACCCEAdvocacy.com, a 2016 petition website that encouraged visitors to write a letter supporting coal to then-EPA administrator Gina McCarthy.

ACCCE did not continue their relationship with DDC into 2017 and only contracted DCI Group, paying them $490k for their work.